tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-201259442009-07-17T10:55:13.620+01:00A blog from SF and fantasy writer Paul Cornell (Doctor Who, Captain Britain, Marvel comics, etc).Paul Cornellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07366796946594435087noreply@blogger.comBlogger276125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20125944.post-38704713984921460362009-07-07T20:20:00.002+01:002009-07-07T20:54:49.956+01:00

I'm alone in the house for a couple of days, so I've taken advantage by really racing for the finish line of the novel. Of the original vast pile of notes (and one page of plot as a PC document), and I'm now down to two pieces of A4, with most of the notes on them crossed out, as I use them up. The plot's down to five lines as well. Most of the notes are payoffs for things I've written in

Paul Cornellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07366796946594435087noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20125944.post-4985578504625887802009-07-01T18:19:00.004+01:002009-07-01T18:48:48.371+01:00

I've got into an extraordinary groove in this hot weather, managing to put down a lot of word count, and do a lot of running. This is what I do in summer, when I'm in a continual state of jittery happiness, and make up for in winter, when I can barely twitch my toes and am generally miserable. Today, for instance, I wrote one of those big end of chapter reveals, which I've had in mind for about

Paul Cornellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07366796946594435087noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20125944.post-80224706694301631542009-06-22T18:37:00.002+01:002009-06-22T18:58:52.010+01:00

We wandered over to Cardiff for a lovely party at Doctor Who script editor Gary Russell's new house last weekend. It was a very relaxed do, with so many old friends from fandom, many of whom work on the series now. John Ainsworth (who these days is in charge of all matters Bernice Summerfield at Big Finish) and I went outside and sat on a step, and in about five minutes, over ginger ale and

Paul Cornellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07366796946594435087noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20125944.post-82415277986713056462009-06-14T07:21:00.005+01:002009-06-14T07:41:55.345+01:00

This coming Wednesday/Thursday, depending on which side of the pond you live, Captain Britain and MI-13 #14 and Dark Reign: Young Avengers #2 will be out. (And this blog will, as always, serve as letters page for both titles.) I asked that there not be an online preview of the Cap, to preserve the spoiler content, which is colossal, but there is a preview the YA, which showcases Mighty Mark

Paul Cornellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07366796946594435087noreply@blogger.com29tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20125944.post-32771612685273429572009-06-08T07:36:00.003+01:002009-06-08T08:08:17.344+01:00

A little while back, I was pleased to be grilled for The Word Magazine by top journo Andrew Harrison (who seemed pleasantly surprised that I was aware of the goings on of him and his colleagues via their excellent podcast).  The issue is out today.  I talked mostly about Captain Britain, but we covered all sorts of stuff.  And I can report that there is definitely a geek contingent at work in the

Paul Cornellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07366796946594435087noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20125944.post-39440189669737135532009-06-03T08:34:00.005+01:002009-06-03T08:44:03.033+01:00

Do please remember that the Cap Annual is out today in the USA, tomorrow in the UK, and that this blog will, as always, serve as the letters page.  Leonard 'Captain' Kirk just delivered his final pages of (gorgeous) Captain Britain and MI-13 art, and with them, this design for something that shows up in #15, the spacesuit worn by members of the SAS for, ahem, use on the lunar surface...Those of

Paul Cornellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07366796946594435087noreply@blogger.com21tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20125944.post-38139746267846814242009-05-31T15:02:00.003+01:002009-05-31T15:49:35.274+01:00

Well, the talk at the Dana Centre on 'The Physics of the Impossible' went well, I think.  Michio Kaku turned out to be sweet, charming, and very open to answering annoying questions from authors on subjects such as Planck lengths and the holographic universe.  The audience were well up for it too, asking some serious questions.  My own ten minutes I recall only as gabble, with lots of handwaving.

Paul Cornellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07366796946594435087noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20125944.post-8072496418845049012009-05-26T14:20:00.003+01:002009-05-26T14:47:58.028+01:00

On Friday I wandered down to Cardiff for the Doctor Who wrap party, to thank David, Russell and Julie for all their efforts on the show, now that they're departing together.  It was a private party, so I won't offer a report, but suffice it to say: I had a wonderful time and caught up with a lot of old friends; the three stars got a send off that demonstrated how loved they are by the troops, and

Paul Cornellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07366796946594435087noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20125944.post-82201664638036028552009-05-20T07:31:00.003+01:002009-05-20T07:48:58.866+01:00

Thanks very much to everyone who was so kind about Captain Britain.  But onwards and upwards. I'm honoured to have been asked to present the Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation: Short Form in Montreal this summer.  I promise, in the face of whatever pressures are put on me, not to fiddle with the envelopes.  And phew, this means I get into the Hugo party without having to pretend to be Lou

Paul Cornellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07366796946594435087noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20125944.post-35483501092625677372009-05-19T15:51:00.000+01:002009-05-19T15:52:20.997+01:00

As you may have noticed, there’s no solicitation today for #16 of Captain Britain and MI-13.  That, unfortunately, is because #15 is the last issue.  A lot of books end without a word from their creative teams, but, with Marvel’s blessing, I didn’t want that to be the case this time.  There are, I think, a few things worth saying at this point.   Firstly, and most importantly, I wanted to say a

Paul Cornellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07366796946594435087noreply@blogger.com139tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20125944.post-28912240155196862592009-05-17T15:03:00.004+01:002009-05-17T22:04:32.357+01:00

We went into London yesterday, mainly just to get away from our thesis and writing responsibilities for a day.  Which led to an afternoon of me wandering around book shops while Caroline tried six different bass guitars in as many different shops in Denmark Street.  I remember when this was a scrappy little street with a tiny comic shop (the only one that stocked fanzines) down an alley, but now

Paul Cornellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07366796946594435087noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20125944.post-16158618016951579862009-05-14T05:47:00.004+01:002009-05-14T05:58:38.930+01:00

Here's two pages of lovely Adrian Alphona art from the upcoming Captain Britain and MI-13 annual, with colours by Christina Strain.  That's Brian Braddock at the wicket, with Spitfire keeping wicket, and O bringing out the weak lemon drink. One lovely detail added by Adrian is that Blade couldn't find the proper top, so (I think) is playing in a baseball shirt. I'm just hugely flattered that

Paul Cornellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07366796946594435087noreply@blogger.com29tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20125944.post-82278064350903994162009-05-11T07:22:00.002+01:002009-05-11T07:26:00.443+01:00

After the gloom of last night's post, I thought I'd point out that it looks rather nice out there this morning.  Hmm, Gloucestershire vs. Yorkshire at Bristol, starting at noon.  I could go to that.  No I couldn't.  Work to do.  In other news, here's a preview of the first few pages of lovely Mark Brooks art from Dark Reign: Young Avengers #1, out on Wednesday.  And yes, the Enchantress' speech

Paul Cornellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07366796946594435087noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20125944.post-52307658141148885462009-05-10T20:10:00.003+01:002009-05-10T20:46:29.909+01:00

Bristol Comics Expo turned out to be really enjoyable.  I think, for me, that was mostly because I made the decision not to be 'on duty', except when signing at the Panini table (they provided some very nice tea, and impressed me with their desire to collect all of Captain Britain in handy volumes, and the way they organise Marvel's output for British readers).  So I didn't feel an obligation to

Paul Cornellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07366796946594435087noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20125944.post-38087187237418135792009-05-08T08:24:00.004+01:002009-05-08T09:01:51.373+01:00

Phew, well, it's been an exhausting few days, but very pleasurable with it.  Last weekend, Simon Kavanagh and Tom Hunter's team, with me in it, actual came joint first in the Sci-Fi London quiz, and, thanks to Tom shaking his legs around in the dance-off finale (seriously) we nearly won it outright.  It was a pleasure to hang around off-duty, so to speak, with that bunch, and hey, we beat Third

Paul Cornellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07366796946594435087noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20125944.post-12239932022795359892009-05-01T12:47:00.002+01:002009-05-01T13:00:08.113+01:00

I couldn't make it to the Clarke Awards, unfortunately, because I was exhausted, and because that would have been four days in London out of five, since I went into town for dinner yesterday, starting in a rather wonderful club at the top of the Centre Point building.  Handy, I thought. Lovely views.  I'd popped in to Forbidden Planet and Orbital Comics earlier, and got the new Moore/Reppion

Paul Cornellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07366796946594435087noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20125944.post-2656108819707678352009-04-25T22:08:00.005+01:002009-04-25T22:45:01.773+01:00

Phew.  Having just done an enormous work week, it's weird not having anything to do this weekend.  So I've just got back from an auction down the pub, in aid of Macmillan Nurses, which is all down to dear old Noel Diamond, who lost his wife a while back, and ever since has been the most incredible engine of charity fundraising for the people who looked after her.  He's making the supreme

Paul Cornellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07366796946594435087noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20125944.post-40610280075294508412009-04-22T21:21:00.002+01:002009-04-22T21:25:07.490+01:00

George just took me by surprise by announcing it:http://grrm.livejournal.com/85174.htmlI've joined the Wild Cards collective, the stable of writers who put together the bestselling mosaic novels (that is, they read like one story, made up of lots of different pieces) of the same name.  And I'm very excited to be doing so, especially alongside the other folk they've got taking part this time round

Paul Cornellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07366796946594435087noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20125944.post-83867048680149209332009-04-22T18:50:00.005+01:002009-04-22T19:12:06.754+01:00

Some of you may have noticed that I have four, goodness, four, comics coming out in July.  Two of these are: Captain Britain and MI-13 #15, the finale of the Vampire State arc, and Dark Reign: Young Avengers #3, which I'm in the middle of, and very excited about, at the moment. Here's my talking about it:http://www.marvel.com/news/comicstories.7666.Young_Avengers~colon~_Children_at_WorkBut the

Paul Cornellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07366796946594435087noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20125944.post-27470194496683439322009-04-19T08:26:00.003+01:002009-04-19T22:13:09.983+01:00

Today I'm talking mainly to the people in comics and media fandom, because to SF fans this may well be old news.  Comics and media folk (hello), do you ever feel, having enjoyed Doctor Who or Primeval or Captain Britain, that you'd like to start catching up with what's cutting edge in the field of print science fiction?  To sample what's best in novels and shorter fiction?  (I'm sure many of you

Paul Cornellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07366796946594435087noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20125944.post-22031050610872440812009-04-15T17:31:00.002+01:002009-04-15T18:17:59.212+01:00

I popped up to Bradford for Eastercon last weekend, and I must say I think it was very well organised, with, in particular, a terrific programme.  It's good to see a serious comics strand at an SF convention, for one thing.  Many old friends met with, several new ones encountered.  I did two panels, one about comic book universes, and the many continuity issues arising thereof (good fun, a

Paul Cornellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07366796946594435087noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20125944.post-62119959732241074312009-04-06T17:53:00.003+01:002009-04-06T18:10:19.928+01:00

I had a lovely time in Dublin, but for the last week (and this one), I'm up to my neck in work.  Last night I popped out to the Fifteen Minute Club (my local talent show) and read Mary Robinette Kowal's 'Evil Robot Monkey' to the audience, and in the next blog, I'll be promoting another effort to publicise this year's Hugo Awards.  But meantime, just a few links to share with you.  Here's a

Paul Cornellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07366796946594435087noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20125944.post-58611437164511469412009-03-26T20:09:00.003Z2009-03-26T20:20:28.133Z

I'm honoured to be Guest of Honour this weekend at the sixth Phoenix Convention in Dublin:http://pcon.ie/It's especially grand to be so honoured amongst so many old friends, many of whom have been GoH there themselves.  I'm going to strive to live up to their standard.  By sheer coincidence, Gail 'Never Fail' Simone (see, I remembered!) is signing at Forbidden Planet in the city on the Friday

Paul Cornellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07366796946594435087noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20125944.post-91681291762127989282009-03-25T07:55:00.003Z2009-03-25T08:48:42.686Z

Well, the stream of responses seems to be trailing off, so I thought now would be the time to reveal the winners in our 'name current comic creators the way Stan Lee would' game. No, we never got a catchy title for that. I've settled on one or two nicknames per creator, and have taken entries not just from the Comments here, but from Millarworld, I, Fanboy, the CBR Forums and Twitter also. I

Paul Cornellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07366796946594435087noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20125944.post-37321528973041301272009-03-22T07:37:00.004Z2009-03-22T07:53:06.782Z

Okay, here's fun. Hopefully. It struck me while I was tossing and turning last night that modern comics writers and artists have been largely deprived of nicknames, as perfected by Stan 'The Man' Lee. He decreed that the professionals who worked for him would be known as Merry Gerry Conway, Gentleman Gene Colan (or Gene 'the Dean' Colan), Sturdy Steve Ditko, Rascally Roy Thomas and so on. He

Paul Cornellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07366796946594435087noreply@blogger.com41